Wordless Wednesday - Toys

I asked them to pass him A toy

Learning From My Littles

I came into motherhood expecting to be a teacher, and expecting to share my knowledge with my kids. What I didn't expect, was how much my kids would teach me.

From their needs and wants, I have come to learn about sacrifice, about love, about beauty, and about appreciation.  I have learned triumph and humility with their accomplishments and with their struggles. I have learned fear and sadness and wonder and amazement as I have re-learned to see the world from a new, smaller point of view.
As they are constantly learning, so am I, and in the past few weeks the lesson plan has focused greatly on one lesson I struggle with most, patience.

Wordless Wednesday - 6 Months Earthside

Baby''s First Foods - Cereal

How is it February already?
Is it just me or did the last few months fly by?
I blame it on the baby fog.
Z has grown so much in the last few weeks. And somehow, already, we are ready to start teaching him about food.  He's always had a good appetite, even when he wasn't gaining weight, he was eating. And lately it seems like hes ready for more.  I know theres so much debate out there on baby food, 4 months or 6 months, homemade or store bought, organic or not, Baby led weaning or purees? It can make your head spin!

Hes skinny and Im cold

I wonder how many calories
are in those fingers

Tomorrow I go and get Little Z weighed again.
Fun!
This is the longest we've gone between appointments since this whole Failure to Thrive Debacle started.  I want to think hes gained, but I don't know.  At his last appointment he was just over eleven pounds, I'm hoping and praying that hes at least twelve pounds tomorrow.  If hes not, I think we'll be switching to chocolate formula.
I'm really lost on how this kid isn't completely round.  All he does is eat! I know a lot of moms feels that way, but I mean Literally.
I breastfeed for around twenty minutes and then give him a two oz bottle, he then falls asleep for about ninety minutes and then I breastfeed him again for twenty minutes, an hour or so later, we repeat. All day and all night.
And all day.
And all night

wrapping gifts, gaining weight, and christmas dinner

This pretty much sums it up.

Every year I find myself, a few days before Christmas, wrapping a mountain of gifts, and every year I swear that next year i am going to wrap as i buy, and yet here I am again.  Zaks room is overflowing with pjs, toys, baskets and assorted Christmas paraphernalia and I have barely made a dent in the wrapping. Where are the elves when you need them?

Failure to thrive

Can I tell you how much I hate those three words? With my second daughter they came out of left field when my healthy happy four month old suddenly dropped almost half of her weight in a time period that I still can barely comprehend.  Those three awful words, failure to thrive, kick started months of supplementing, guilt, tears and stress. This time around I was proactive, I had Z monitored right from day one, I kept my workouts light and made sure I took in enough calories, i fed on demand and he demanded often, we co-slept, i made lactation cookies and we've done so much skin to skin that I'm surprised we haven't fused together!

And yet here we are eight weeks old and he weighs the exact same as when he was born.  This time the failure to thrive is not due to supply but to a resistant case of thrush and a lazy little boy, but it still sucks.  My fat little baby has become my scrawny baby and I can't tell you how much I want those rolls back

Feeding, pumping, and supplementing around the clock is exhausting, as are the trice weekly appointments and weigh ins, and I am so thankful for the support system I have in place because without them I honesty don't know how I would get through the days.  

Dealing with this twice though has given me some great insight into how hard breastfeeding can be. I never suspected, after having such an easy time with my eldest that I would face these challenges, but like pregnancy, every baby and every postpartum experience is different.  I've learned a few tips and tricks along the way and i now have a list of things I recommend every expectant mom prepare ( and every mom of a young infant as well) just in case things don't go perfectly.

1 A list of local breastfeeding resources 

I cannot stress enough how valuable this is.  Breastfeeding isn't always easy there are amazing resources out here that can help you through any rough spots you might have. Have a knowledge of what is available (and when) in your area.  La Leche League is a great place to start.

2. A Good breast pump

I am a huge fan of Medela and recently upgraded from a single electric to a double ( Medela Pump in Style) and it has been some of the best money I've ever spent. I can pump twice as much in half the time and as a result have even managed a small freezer stash!

3. A Good Carrier

My cuddly wrap has seen me through two babies without a complaint, but this time around I've added an Infantino Mei Tei ( review coming  soon)  that I'm in love with.  A good carrier makes skin to skin time easier and can really save a new moms sanity especially if she has more than one bambino.

4.  The right bottle

Again I'm going to recommend Medela, the Calma nipple is the closest thing to a breast that I've seen on the market, if yore switching between the breast and trust me I've tried about a gazillion brands. These are definitely worth the investment.

I would never wish breastfeeding troubles on even my worst enemy but in most cases with commitment, a lot of work, and the right support it can be overcome. 

He's here!

My rainbow is here at last. 

Little Z made a dramatic entry into this world last week. I'll post a full birth story soon but it was over 120 hours of drug free labor and a few "labor rules" were broken. He weighed almost nine pounds and is absolutely perfect!

It was worth every contraction though to hold this little man in my arms. His big sisters are so excited he's here too, baby is the most spoken word in our house these days and I'm loving watching them get to know each other. 

So far life as a family of five has been pretty blissful, but I have a feeling it's going to get a little crazy, and I'm looking forward to it.